


Ignore The Smoke And Smile

by GoofyGoldenGirl



Category: Ben 10 Series, ben 10 Omniverse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apocalypse, Assassins & Hitmen, Dark, Debauchery, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drugs, Explicit Language, Gen, Graphic Description, Minor Character Death, Moral Ambiguity, Post-Apocalypse, Rebellion, Underage Drug Use, everyone in this world is so depraved, hitman - Freeform, mad world dimension, teenage dictators
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 03:57:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3160322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoofyGoldenGirl/pseuds/GoofyGoldenGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>In this world, the energy wasn't his demon, it was the drugs </em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ignore The Smoke And Smile

**Author's Note:**

> _The title of the fic is a reference to A Perfect Circle's song Blue_
> 
>  
> 
> _You can listen to it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlysZAUNyFg_

He was sixteen when he first got hooked.

Kevin was living on the streets of New York when he first discovered the dragon. He had a fucked up life. He already was dabbling in pot and booze. He got kicked out of school for poor grades and for getting involved in fistfights. Already had one arrest for shoplifting at the mall. Stepdad treated him like shit and only cared about the widow's pension mom received to waste it all away with one turn of the dice. 

So Kevin ran away at fifteen and a half when he torched that bastard's car and took off on his bike. After a few first rough weeks, he ended up staying with a bunch of runaways who called themselves _The Plumber Kids_ because they stayed in an abandoned building that used to be the head of a local plumbing company. They were a knit group, always together, always looking out for the other. There were four others: Manny, Alan, and two siblings named Helen and Pierce. 

It was Pierce who brought it in. It became a weekly ritual to partake the drug. All of them in a circle; surrounded by needles and smoke, bug eyes and otherworldly grins. Kevin didn't the first few times, but his curiosity got the best of him. The scent tantalized him; brushing up against his nostrils, making his heart pound. He joined and that was all it took.

For him it was as if everything that came before in was insignificant. He felt so alive, so high that he soared up to the stars. The rush in his veins, the calm that washed over him and dragged out, it was something he hadn't felt in years. Using once a week did not satisfy his craving. He grew anxious with each passing day he did not use. He and Pierce were the ones who were most influenced. For the two of them, the weekly ritual turned into a daily one. Once or twice, one of The Plumber's Kids spoke up about hoarding; arguments that nearly broke out into fights. But most of the time, they were mellowed out enough to get along.

He was seventeen when the apocalypse hit. New York was bombed first. It was too late to evacuate everyone. The streets were filled with the fleeing and the dead.

Kevin raced up the stairs. His friends were no where to be seen. He checked each room, but they were all empty. Until he reached the office that they used for their drug den. Pierce was on his side, asleep on the floor. 

"Pierce! Pierce! Wake up man!" He frantically shook him. 

But Pierce didn't wake up. Kevin turned him over to find that he had turned blue and was cold. His black bug eyes stared straight up at Kevin. 

Kevin sharply inhaled, a strange gurgling noise at the back of his throat. He dropped Pierce with shaking hands. He choked out a sob. 

A finger reached down and shut Pierce's eyelids. Pulled a blanket over him to make it look like he was asleep. Then he heard the soar of a plane overhead. He ran, ran just in time before the old plumbing headquarters exploded.

Everyone was dead. There was no life here. He headed out west, with an ache in his heart and veins.  
****************************************************************************************************************  
Ben found him in California.

Kevin had gotten into a fight with one of the few remaining drug dealers around. The little runt was charging him ten dollars extra for one measly gram. He couldn't take it anymore; the spinning in his head and the knot in his stomach. So Kevin threw him a punch to the face. He was stronger; he shoved him around and knocked him out cold without a flinch.

A clapping sound was heard from the back of the room.

"Bravo!"

Kevin looked up to find the strangest assortment of people. A punk looking Aussie kid dressed in a cutoff jean shirt with baggy pants,with bright orange eyes and a glowing orange watch on his wrist, a chick with short red hair, clad in daisy dukes and a cut off black top so high that the ends grazed the bottom of her breasts, and a guy with catlike features and bluish purple skin, also punk looking, wearing a brown uniform that looked straight out of one of those _Star Wars_ movies. All of them were around the same as as Kevin was, the alien or mutated dude (it was all the same anyway wasn't it) a bit older. 

"The fuck you looking at?" Kevin shot at them. He wanted to be alone. Why were they here? The only company he needed was that little bag that had been denied to him for so long.

"You came for these I suppose?" Aussie kid held up the bag.

"Give it to me!"

He threw the bag to Kevin. The addict's hands started to shake. It had been so long. So long since he got his fix.

"I am impressed with your strength," The Aussie continued. "I could use a guy like you."

"You want me?" It came out half a question and half a growl. 

"Yes."

"What's innit for me?"

"I can give you more," Aussie said, dragging out each word. "I have connections. You will have enough to last for a lifetime. And all you need to do is to be my hitman."

Kevin glanced up. Aussie held out his hand. Kevin took it and got up. They shook.

"The name's Ben," Aussie told him. "Ben Tennyson. And I will do great things for this world."  
******************************************************************************************************  
Kevin was their secret weapon.

Ben, Gwen, and Rook ruled the front lines. They charged at their foes straight on without any warning. Rook led the troops. Gwen supplied the weapons; bombs made of pure energy that contained as much power as a nuclear one of the old days. And Ben would personally defeat whoever defied him with the strange device that allowed him to transform into deadly creatures. 

Kevin was the assassin in the shadows. He was sent out to take out the enemies that Ben could not afford to kill personally. The left over politicians and wealthy that still held power even when the world had stopped. Each hit was swift; a gunshot, stab to the back, or a grenade to blow the building to bits. And as Ben promised, Kevin was rewarded greatly. Each stash he was given for every mission lasted him for a week. 

Soon Ben was the ruler of not only the city named Bellwood, but what used to be the entire state of California. He enslaved the inhabitants, forcing them to dig outside of the city. For what, Kevin did not know nor care. He was put in charge of overseeing the work along with Rook.

There was not much to look over. The slaves did as they were told. And Kevin's vision was too hazy to notice anything else that stood out.

He was welcomed into Ben's inner circle. They took a special liking to him. If things had been normal, Rook and Ben would have been his friends. Gwen, his girlfriend. But he did not want their company. He went to their late night parties, but only did it for a quota to fill. 

The parties were all the same. The tables were lined with beer, whiskey, vodka and food that Kevin had not seen in months. Somebody's playlist blared from the stereo as strippers danced in the front. The room was filled with smoke and dust and in the center, the four of them would sit, getting higher and higher by the minute. Laughing at nothing, swaying back and forth, clutching spoons, with snot running down their noses. They began to lose control. Furniture was tossed about the room. Windows were shattered. Food was thrown at the strippers if they didn't provide a good enough show. Or Ben would reward one of them with a wandering hand. Kevin and Gwen made out, too out of it to care that others were in the room with them. And Rook would sit and rock back and forth, muttering gibberish, sometimes letting out a scream. Everything was blurry. Everything happened differently yet it all was the same. In the end, Rook was sprawled out on the floor, completely wasted to the point of vomiting. Ben stumbled out with two of the strippers on his arm. He would not emerge from his room until noon the next day. And Kevin and Gwen huddled in a dark corner; him sitting against the wall, her on top, achieving a thrill that rivaled the one that the drugs gave them.

The only thing he needed, he craved, was the white powder that filled his veins.  
**********************************************************************************  
"No! No you can't do this!"

Kevin kneeled on the floor. Ben towered over him with an angered expression on his face. Gwen and Rook looked on from the sidelines.

"I told you to do your job. Take out anyone who stands in my way," Ben cooly responded.

"The targets were gone! There was no sign of them when I got there. I swear!" Kevin frantically said. 

He couldn't remember what happened. It was if a whole chunk of the period between leaving the compound and returning had been erased. All he knew was that he had screwed up big time and there was hell to pay. 

"You let them _get_ away."

"No! They must of known! They must of known I was coming!" Kevin blabbed. 

"I am disappointed in you Kevin. I am incredibly disappointed. You are my best weapon. I put my trust in you and you just _throw_ it away like that?"

"I'm sorry I pissed you off! It won't happen again!" Kevin pleaded. 

"You need a lesson Kevin," Ben told him. "How about discontinuing your payment for a whole month? Will that bring the message across?"

He picked up the bag of drugs from the table and held it up. Kevin followed it with his eyes.

"I'll go after them! Just let me go after them! I'll--"

Ben threw the bag into the air. 

"Please! **Please!** "

Ben slammed his hand down on the watch. There was a flash of light then an orangey glow as Ben in his flame alien form grabbed onto the bag. Kevin let out a shout as it turned into ashes. The smell burned his nostrils, making him gag. His red eyes began to water. He kept on shouting, pleading, until the scent made him puke up the only meal he had eaten that day. 

Ben laughed. The others joined him.  
**********************************************************  
If he had isolated himself already, he began to do it more.

Locking himself in his room with his stash, only to come out for missions or food. His skin itched to the point of bleeding and his head spun, and his stomach churned, but he never felt better. It was all smoke and smiles. Just him and his little angel. 

They never cared. Who was he kidding, they never gave a shit about him at all. He was only their little trophy to be shown off and to be chucked out when a better one came along.

So he let it be that way.  
****************************  
Kevin was on patrol again. He paced along the top of the cliff. He wished the boss could send him on another mission; watching people dig hour after hour made him bored to tears.

He was paired up with Rook like always. But that pompous little dick was getting on his nerves. Ordering him about like he was one of the fucking diggers, watching every step he took, shouting at him if he screwed up. Gwen had also taken a cue from Rook and Ben and had changed her attitude towards him.

He shut out Rook and walked on. It took Kevin all that he had not to punch him in the face. He muttered curses under his breath and rolled back his shoulders. They hurt. He was not sure why. He feared he was loosing his strength. 

It happened so fast that he almost didn't see it.

One of the diggers whacked one of the guards right on the head with a shovel. The soldier fell to the ground, blood trickling down his temple, his eyes wide open and glassy.

Rook had turned around. He pointed his hand out and the guards rushed down, guns out. Kevin ran as fast as he could, but not fast enough to catch up to the guards at the ground level.

Two of the guards grabbed the perpetrator by the arms. The perpetrator screamed and squirmed until a third guard sent a knife straight into the chest.

The soldiers began to fire at the diggers. Bodies collapsed to the ground. Blood splattered everywhere. The air was filled with screams. Kevin froze in his spot in horror.

The assassinations were one thing. The targets deserved death. They had wronged Tennyson and threatened him. But this? It was only one who acted. The rest were all innocent.

_What the hell are we doing?_ Kevin thought. 

His hands were trembling. He dropped his gun. He clutched at his hair and shrieked.  
**********************************************************************************************  
He lay on the floor in a fetal position. Everything felt heavy. His vision was blurry. Something lodged in his throat was forcing its way out. His hands shook. He tried to move his arm but it sunk to the ground.

The needle hung over the jar about a few feet away. It dripped blood into the whitish powder. His diluted brown eyes followed each drop. His lips parted, feeling something warm and sticky spill out.

Kevin's eyes blinked to see the faces of what he once called friends float in front of him. Pierce, Helen, Manny, and Alan. Even the Tennysons and Blonko were there. They stared at him with bug eyes and wide smiles. They nodded at him as if to say hello or goodbye. They whispered in low, haunting voices, making Kevin scream. He screamed until his voice was hoarse and the bile or blood or whatever was inside him came back up again.

_What the hell am I doing?_

It was going to kill him. This demon was going to kill him like it killed Pierce. A slow, agonizing death that he would be too out of to even notice.

"I fucked up," Kevin mumbled, tears streaming down his face. "I fucked up so hard." 

It was getting harder to breathe. In a last attempt to hang on to whatever he had left, he lifted his arm. 

The door burst open, accompanied by shouts and the thud of boots. Kevin could not see who they were, but could tell that one of them had crouched down by his side.

"This junkie's the hitman?" Came an ethereal voice. 

"He looks like shit," said a lower one. 

A hand waved over his face. Another was pressed against his neck, his wrist, briefly against the part of his chest that wasn't soaked. 

"Someone get the medic!"

A hand grabbed his'. Kevin's pale fingers locked on as tightly as he could. The figures' faces were all the same to him. He could not tell one from the other. 

"Why not let him die and get it over with. It's one less person to bring to court."

"It's only fair. He can't pay for his crimes if he dies like this."

Kevin was lifted up. He cried out. He sensed that they were leaving the room. 

"I'm not surprised if that bastard drugged him intentionally. I heard that's how he gets them to do his bidding."

_No. I'm the only one who fucked myself up_ Kevin thought.

He was put on a stretcher. Another figure hovered over him. An oxygen tube was jabbed into his nose. He heard a beeping sound coming from a machine close by. He was given a sedative, and felt it started to kick in immediately after. The last thing he noticed before he closed his eyes were how bright the lights seemed above him.


End file.
